Labour lead over Tories falls to just one point, poll shows
The Labour Party is leading the Conservatives by just one point, a new poll has shown, after weeks of rows over freebies.
The latest More in Common voting intention poll has 29% of people saying they would vote for Labour and 28% for the Conservatives.
When the election was held in July, the gap between the two parties was 11%. It has steadily reduced over the three months Labour has been in government.
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The gap reduced to 4% in September – and now the Tories and Labour are just one percentage point apart.
Labour’s plunge in popularity is led mainly by those aged 65 and over, suggesting that it is in reaction to the winter fuel payment cut for 10 million pensioners.
Sir Keir Starmer‘s approval rating, which was at a high of +11 after winning the election, has steadily plummeted to -33, according to the More in Common poll from 5 – 7 October.
It is now below Rishi Sunak’s for the first time since January, who is on -32.
A YouGov poll released on Monday found six in 10 people (59%) now describe the Labour government as “sleazy”.
Morgan McSweeney has replaced Sue Gray. Pic: Shutterstock
Sir Keir’s ratings and that of his government reflect a series of unpopular policy decisions and, in recent weeks, a row over freebies taken by Sir Keir and his top team.
It has culminated in Sir Keir repaying £6,000 for tickets and clothes for his wife, and the resignation of his chief of staff, former civil servant Sue Gray.
She stepped down on Sunday after weeks of briefings against her, with her perceived power and abilities attacked by other Number 10 staff and civil servants who accused her of not having a handle on the damaging freebies row.
Her replacement, Morgan McSweeney, the party’s former campaign director who masterminded July’s election landslide, will attend his first cabinet meeting on Tuesday as chief of staff.
He will try to quell discontent within Sir Keir’s inner circle despite allies of Ms Gray being unhappy she has gone.
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Analysis: PM and his team have serious stabilisation job to do
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Johnson ‘totally rejects’ insulting public
An ally of Ms Gray told The Times she had been the victim of an “out-of-control group” of senior male advisers who felt threatened by her.
“Either Starmer wasn’t across what was going on or he was and he let them do it. Frankly neither is a good look,” the anonymous source said.
“You simply can’t have a lot of out-of-control special advisers ousting a chief of staff.”
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The former prime minister Boris Johnson used the recent rows to claim that the Conservative Party will “unquestionably” win the next general election if Sir Keir continues to govern as he is.
He told LBC that voters thought it would be a “kind of Blairite government” but “he [Starmer] is governing from the left”, using the example of handing the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and pay increases for public sector workers.
Asked if that meant the Conservatives could win the next election, Mr Johnson said: “I think they will. At this rate, they unquestionably will.”
Politics
MP Zarah Sultana who was ousted from Labour announces she is starting new political party with Jeremy Corbyn
An MP who was ousted from the Labour Party has announced she is setting up a new political party with Jeremy Corbyn.
Independent MP Zarah Sultana said she and the former Labour leader will co-lead the new party, which she did not provide a name for.
She said other independent MPs, campaigners and activists from across the country will join them, but did not name anyone.
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Ms Sultana also said she was “resigning” from the Labour Party after 14 years.
She was suspended as a Labour MP shortly after they came to power last summer for voting against the government maintaining the two-child benefit cap.
Several others from the left of the party, including Mr Corbyn, were also suspended for voting against the government, and also remained as independent MPs.
However, Ms Sultana was still a member of the Labour Party – until now.
Mr Corbyn has previously said the independent MPs who were suspended from Labour would “come together” to provide an “alternative.
The other four are: Iqbal Mohamed, Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan and Adnan Hussain.
Mr Corbyn and the other four independents have not said if they are part of the new party Ms Sultana announced.
In her announcement, Ms Sultana said she would vote to abolish the two-child benefit cap again and also voted against scrapping the winter fuel payment for most pensioners.
Ms Sultana also voted against the government’s welfare bill this week, which was heavily watered down as Sir Keir Starmer tried to prevent a major rebellion from his own MPs.
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Protesters block Israeli arms manufacturer in Bristol
On Wednesday, Ms Sultana spoke passionately against Palestine Action being proscribed as a terror organisation – but MPs eventually voted for it to be.
She said to proscribe it is “a deliberate distortion of the law to chill dissent, criminalise solidarity and suppress the truth”.
Ms Sultana said they were founding the new party because “Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper – just 50 families now own more wealth than half the UK population”.
She called Reform leader Nigel Farage “a billionaire-backed grifter” leading the polls “because Labour has completely failed to improve people’s lives.
Ms Sultana called Nigel Farage a ‘billionaire-backed grifter’. Pic: PA
The MP, who has spoken passionately about Gaza, added: “Across the political establishment, from Farage to Starmer, they smear people of conscience trying to stop a genocide in Gaza as terrorists.
“But the truth is clear: this government is an active participant in genocide. And the British people oppose it.
“We are not going to take this anymore.”
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “In just 12 months, this Labour government has boosted wages, delivered an extra four million NHS appointments, opened 750 free breakfast clubs, secured three trade deals and four interest rate cuts lowering mortgage payments for millions.
“Only Labour can deliver the change needed to renew Britain.”
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